How to use Facebook to sell more dental implant services

15th March 2016 |
Business Support, Marketing Support

(and what to do about it)

According to independent research carried out at the very end of 2015 (source Rose McGrory Social Media Limited), there are around 30 million Brits active on Facebook, representing 43% of all social media users. Half (23%) are using Facebook Messenger on a regular basis.

Compare that with the other well-known social platforms:

Twitter – 19%

WhatsApp – 18%

Skype – 13%

Google+ – 12%

LinkedIn – 9%

Pinterest – 9%

Instagram – 8%

Snapchat – 6%

So although there may be chat about other online chats, it’s Facebook that rule the roost (by a mile) and we know that Zuckerberg plans to make Messenger THE primary online chat channel over the next 5 years (source – Wired magazine).

What about the over 45’s?

Here are the 2016 projections (source Statista) for the number of Facebook users by demographic:

45-54 4.4 million

55- 64 3.1 million

65+ 2.3 million

Total 9.8 million of a total 45+ population around 25 million = 39%.

So we live in a country in which approximately 40% of the population age 45 and over are using Facebook as part of their daily routine. Almost 10 million implant prospects checking in, friending, liking, posting, commenting, sharing and chatting.

The latest global trading results for Facebook show a Q4 profit for 2015 of around $1.6 billion (that’s $133 million a week) and confirms that 80% of that revenue is from advertising.

Facebook isn’t a social media platform – it’s the biggest advertising site on Earth.

Your implant practice needs to be there.

Top 10 tips for you to show up!

Create a Facebook page for your practice (I’m sorry if you feel insulted by that but experience shows that I have to ask);

Make sure the name of your Page is available – I’ve seen practice pages closed down by Facebook after a complaint from another practice with the same name in another part of the world:

Get “likes” – there is no other way than the simple hard slog of asking people directly to like your page. Posters and signage in the practice will help but a personal invitation at an assessment, consult or dental health review will have more meaning;

Get to 1,000 “likes” as fast as you can – there is circumstantial evidence that 1,000 is a tipping point;

Post every working day;

Make 20% of your posts about generic dental and health related issues;

Make 80% of your posts about people whose lives have changed because they work for you or because they are your patients;

Don’t post adverts for dental products in your news feed – Facebook want your advertising revenue and will close you down if you are a repeat offender;

Re-purpose your blog posts and any other social posts on your Facebook page;

Create a marketing budget for Facebook advertising and take advice from professionals on what to advertise and how.

As I monitor the Return on Investment (ROI) from my clients’ marketing spend, I am seeing more and more new patient enquiries arriving from judicious Facebook posting and advertising.